United We Stand
by SOL1DSNAKE21
Summary: The year is 2021, a new age of conflict has appeared, and on the front-lines of this border-less war, is Rainbow, a long time organization dedicated to protecting our way of life, at any cost. Now with a new threat emerging from a broken country, specialists from many flags, and some from none at all, unite under one banner to stop the coming storm. (STRONG LANGUAGE)
1. Chapter 1: Back in the Saddle

**Hey you beautiful people! The first chapter of United We Stand is finally done! Thank you to everyone who submitted an OC and who helped me brainstorm and edit! This is going to be a long and wild ride that I hope you all will enjoy, and without further ado, a project over a year in the making!**

* * *

_Rain falls all around the lush, green mountains as a jet black helicopter dashes across the night sky. men and women inside are hard at work preparing for their next engagement, loading magazines, readying equipment, and suiting up._

A voice droned as the loudspeaker turned on, "ETA to drop point 10 mikes, I repeat, ETA 10 mikes."

A man in all black combat gear stood up and fastened a parachute to his back. The rest of the operators inside did the same, making sure they are all secure, preventing any malfunctions due to user error. Everyone in the cargo bay had practiced this operation hundreds of times, all in preparation for this very moment.

An audible click was heard in everyone's headset. "Coms check," was heard by everyone as the soldier in black was speaking, "Wraith online," he said.

"Oni online," said a shorter, Asian woman with a Kitsune mask on her face, armed with an AR-15 rifle covered in a thin layer of cloth.

"Adrestia online," said a slightly taller woman with olive skin, and a skull mask covering her face, carrying a heavily modified ACR.

"Sparrow online," was heard as a tall man got up and grabbed the charging handle to his heavily modified MK 17.

"Kicker online," said a heavyset man with a protective half mask covering his beard, as he loaded a 40mm into the M203 under his M416.

Wraith spoke again as a green light lit up the hold.

"Everyone on me, ten feet apart at all times until we land. If you get separated you know the drill, we will link up at the rally point before we move on the complex. Once we reach the complex, Oni and Adrestia will hit the power generator, disabling any electronic defenses, and most importantly, the lights. Sparrow will take out any patrols, snipers, and guards outside of the building, then Kicker and I will move in on the complex as soon as your objectives are complete. Radio in to report completion and move in from the closest entrance, and we will surround the HVT, grab him, then pop a flare for extraction," He said. "Any questions?" The rest of the bay was silent.

"That's what I like to hear." "Ok Noble Team, JUMP!" Wraith yelled as he fell out the open door of the chopper, and soon the rest of the squad followed.

Sparrow's voice blared on the radio, "Remember, deploy your chutes at 100 feet!"

_30 Minutes later..._

The entire unit reached the ground in one piece, and everyone had formed up at the rally point.

Wraith started to issue orders, "Everyone, move up on your objectives, Wraith out."

The team separated as everyone moved to secure the complex.

Adrestia and Oni reached the fence surrounding the generator, observing the three armed soldiers guarding it.

"Shit, tangos," Adrestia Said, "Wraith, rules of engagement?" A reply crackled through her headset.

"The group is a terrorist cell, and they have no affiliation with the Norwegian Government, so neutralize with extreme prejudice, but maintain stealth."

"Roger, Adrestia out," she replied.

"How are we going to play this?" Oni asked.

"I'll grab the one closest to the gate and take out the one to the left of the generator. You take out the one to the right," she said.

Oni signaled with a head nod, and then they both drew their sidearms and moved in. Adrestia kicked the gate open and put the closest soldier in a chokehold, and shot another in the head, while Oni shot the remaining soldier in the neck. They slowly moved toward the large machine that hummed loudly in the middle of the fenced area. Oni moved toward it, and "carefully" took her Kabar knife, and stabbed the controls multiple times. Slowly, the generator's humming died down, until the entire system cut out, and the lights turned off.

"This is Adrestia, objective complete, forming up on back entrance, awaiting go-ahead, over," she communicated over the radio. "Roger, standing by," replied Wraith, waiting on the hill with a pair of binoculars, calling out targets for Sparrow. The tall operator quickly hid behind a wooden barricade as Wraith called out another patrol.

"Two tangos, rounding the corner," Wraith said. Sparrow activated his heartbeat sensor, able to see the two soldiers.

"Targets spotted," he replied. He removed his M9 and dispatched the two soldiers through the wood.

"Objective complete, outside presence neutralized," he radioed. "Good, everyone activate your HUD contacts before you breach, I don't want anyone getting surprised while we're in there," Wraith said over the radio. "Noble, move in."

_15 minutes later..._

"Are you sure the rest of the building is empty?" Wraith asked nervously.

"YES, for the last time!" Oni replied angrily. "I checked with sensor grenades, the drone, snake-cam, we even cleared the rest of the building!"

"Shit," he replied. "This has to be a trap then. There is no way they're just gonna let us take him, with the whole area undefended. Ok, BREACH!" He screamed. He kicked down the door and swept the room with his SIG 550, only to find it empty.

"Shit," Wraith said flatly.

"Sir," Adrestia inquired, "You should come and see this."

Wraith walked over to her, only to see live footage from the drone over the compound, which was currently being surrounded by enemy troops.

"Shit," he said again. "We need to move..." He was cut off by a subtle beeping noise that got progressively louder. He turned to see a brick of C4 start beeping.

"BOMB, RUN!" Wraith yelled before he jumped on the brick, just before it exploded, saving his team from the blast. He was thrown through the wall, bleeding profusely. For everyone else, besides their entire world ringing, they were fine.

Sparrow was the first to recover. As soon as he got up, he ran to his now unconscious Ghost Lead, examining his wounds. He took his knife and started cutting away at his battle dress, pulling off his vest and armored BDU, to reveal a horrible bloody and boney mess.

"Shit," Sparrow exclaimed with disgust. "Holy shit, ok, we're gonna get you out of here, don't worry."

While he was hastily dressing Wraith's wounds to the best of his ability, the rest of the team also recovered. As soon as he saw them, he ordered them to secure the floor so he could move Wraith to the roof.

"I'm going to pop a flare, and when you get the signal, you better haul ass to the chopper or you're walking home," he ordered. He picked up his commander in a bridal carry and started up the single flight of stairs to the roof. Meanwhile, the rest of the team was shooting from windows, balconies, and holding the enemy off from the stairs. Outside, enemy forces were gathering en-mass around the complex, but the Ghost squad was holding them off through choke points. There were hallways full of dead terrorists and spent brass littered the floors.

Back on the roof, Sparrow was radioing for evac, "This is Sparrow, requesting immediate evac, I repeat, requesting immediate evac." "What do you mean you can't evac from the roof?" He demanded angrily, "Fuck you guys! Fine, we'll hike our asses almost a mile away because you sissy fucks are scared of some villagers with Garbage Rods." He radioed the news in for the rest of the team.

"This is Sparrow, we'll have to get out of the building and hustle over to a small clearing where they'll be able to put a chopper down." The rest of the team replied with several similar curses before starting to carve a path out of the building.

* * *

_**Hereford Base, United Kingdom: 23:00 hours**_

* * *

_The home of the elite counterterrorism unit Rainbow Six, the occupants were mostly winding down from their celebration of the night, likely to commemorate a successful operation. The party had ended, all the operators had mostly gone back to their quarters; those that were not piss drunk at least. _

Mike Baker was walking back to the SAS dorms when he got an emergency call on his phone.

"_Bloody hell, it's nearly midnight! who's calling my drunk ass in the middle of the night?" _he thought to himself. He answered the call and immediately went running for Harry's office. When he arrived he nearly broke the door down trying to get in.

"Harry, tell Gustave to prep the med bay, The Ghost squad is coming early, their Ghost Lead is critically injured; IED." he blurted out.

I'll let him know, can you make sure that the RAF doesn't shoot them down?" Harry replied, his voice heavy with worry. "I'll make the calls, you just make sure we aren't going to have our new employee KIA on his first day," Mike said as he ran out to make arrangements.

In the medical wing of Rainbow's slice of Hereford, Gustave Kateb was hard at work preparing the surgery suite. Due to his experience, he knew he would need to extract shrapnel, and according to Harry's description of the extent of the victim's injuries, he would need to remove bone as well, so he had his tools all prepped and ready. He had the medical staff prepare blood ready transplant, O- as he wanted to save as much time as he could, but now all Gustave could do was wait, as he and the medbay's crew prepared the suite as well as they could.

Back in Norway, the Ghost squad is arriving at the determined LZ, fighting through wave after wave of gunmen.

"Holy shit, that was rough," exclaims Sparrow. "The chopper should be on approach." Like clockwork, the pilot reported that they are about to touch down.

"I'm getting Ghost Lead prepped, secure the LZ!" He yelled to the team as they fanned out to cover the area. A few minutes later the helicopter lands and Sparrow loads Wraith into it on a stretcher, and then the rest of the team loads up and boards as well. As the doors shut, the air in the hold is thick with worry for their fallen comrade as the helicopter races off to Hereford.


	2. Chapter 2: The Good, The Bad

**Second chapter complete! I have one poll in my profile that if you want to see more, I would appreciate it if you would answer it. It is about chapter length. As always, please leave a review if you like the story, all constructive criticism is helpful. enjoy!**

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The helicopter races across the sky as Sparrow fights to keep Wraith stable.

"Come on man, you gotta keep breathing," he chanted over and over as he fixed an oxygen mask to his face. The rest of the team was unloading and disarming their gear, worried for their Ghost Lead.

_In a scarcely lit room, Wraith was sitting at a large marble table. He sat in a chair made out of the same material, that looked like it was made for a being of a much larger size. The only light in the space came from a dim chandelier, with candles tinted to the color of blood hanging from it. A large figure sat across from Wraith, one that fit the unique size of the chairs quite comfortably. The figure had large wings tightly pressed to its body, and its head had large horns, like that of a rhino on either side of its gruesome grin. The creature, if you could even call it that, emanates a wave of something that can only be described as pure suffering. Wraith was the first to speak as he cleared his throat._

"So… long time no see?" He asked inquisitively. The "thing" only leaned forward as it's grin widened, as it stared into the soul of the man in front of it. Wraith nervously looked around, waiting for a response from the beast in front of him. After sitting in silence for several minutes, he stood up and slammed the table angrily.

"CAN WE JUST GET THIS OVER WITH ALREADY," he yelled. "I just want to get ba-"

"I know exactly what you want," answered the beast, cutting him off. The thing stood up from its seat and walked around the table to Wraith. The sheer size of the creature was enough to make you soil yourself, not even talking about its massive hoofed feet, connected to the body by red-scaled tree trunks. As the beast stomped over, Wraith squirmed in his seat, flinching at what was about to happen. When the thing stopped in front of him, it extended its large serrated talons toward his chest, pinched the air, and produced a wispy glowing cloud that hovered in its hand, before it was crushed in its grip. Wraith winced in pain as the cloud disappeared. The beast was the first to speak.

"You know you can only do this so many times right?" It asked, "You've already given me about a half of your soul, much more and you won't be much more human than a husk."

"I need to keep fighting, as long as I'm saving lives, I must keep going, whatever the cost." He said adamantly.

"Does eternal damnation fall under that?" The thing asked again, "Because that's where you're headed if you keep this up. It doesn't matter to me though, because while you're out there 'saving lives', I get a constant supply of the broken and the damned, so if anything, I should be cheering you on."

"For every scum I curb stomp, another civilian gets to go home to their family," replied Wraith, offended by the creature's statement.

"You don't have to justify your actions to me, with your help, business is booming," said the beast, grinning his horrible grin during every word. "I'll be happy to have you here forever once you run out of luck."

"You'll have to wait a while for that, I'm planning on staying alive for as long as possible," Wraith said smugly. "I'm basically immune to lead at this point."

"We'll see about that," said the beast in a foreboding tone. "You're coming too, better get back up there.''With a snap of its claws, Wraith was laying down on a stretcher being wheeled into a large white room. He started to lose consciousness just as a tall man in a white coat came up beside him and started talking to his team. _"I'm Gustav, I'll take good care of your friend here. Please take a seat out here and relax, I'll take him from here."_

Gustav Kateb knew he was the best hope for his patient to survive, but even he was skeptical after seeing the extent of the injuries. Currently, he was stable, but Gustav had to operate soon or risk losing more healthy tissue. He was already prepared, and his medical staff had already prepared him for surgery, so all that was left was to start cutting. He first got to work on the first layer of the wound; where his uniform had been melted to his skin. Gustav started to carefully and slowly separate the material from the flesh, and he eventually only had burnt skin exposed. He then turned his focus to the main injury, the shrapnel from the bomb that caused all of this. The patient was in remarkably good condition because a blast wave from an IED the size that he was exposed to could have ruptured some of his vital organs, so he either had to be equipped with some heavy equipment, or this man had Lady Luck on his side.

"Oh my God!" He exclaimed. "There is more shrapnel than flesh here." Gustav had eventually extracted every piece of metal from the explosive and got to work cleaning and bandaging the wounds. After finishing everything, he made sure the oxygen and fluids were all running smoothly and went into his office right next to the ICU, so he could see any issues and respond quickly while continuing on other work.

Outside of the Medbay, Noble Team was waiting to hear any news about their wounded soldier. Sparrow was pacing around the room on the phone with Scott Mitchell, the general of the Ghosts, relaying the situation to him. Adrestia was sitting on one of the couches, her head in her hands, dumbfounded at the current situation. Kicker was trying to comfort Oni, but she kept pushing him away, sulking by herself. They waited for what felt like hours until Gustav came out to talk to them.

"I know you all must be horribly worried for your friend but-" He said as Adrestia cut him off.

"How long is he gonna be out for sir?"

Gustav responded with a sigh and said in an understanding tone, "We don't even know if he is going to make it through the night, much less recover fully, and even less that he would return to combat ever."

After ending his call, Sparrow interjected.

"No offense sir, but that man has survived much more and kept on trucking. A little IED won't slow him down."

Kicker stood up, offended at the doctor's prognosis.

"I've seen that man take a 40 millimeter to the chest, and get back up to carry a man out of a combat zone." Even Oni decided to give her two cents.

"Jason is like a living legend, as long as you believe in him, he'll pull through anything," she said in a solemn tone.

Gustav was surprised at how strongly the newcomers reacted to his thoughts.

"I am terribly sorry to tell you this, but people don't just shrug off explosives like that, especially someone that has sustained even worse in the past. I'm sorry, but his chances are not looking good." Sparrow looked the Frenchman in the eyes and said something he won't forget for a long time.

"I bet you 150 pounds that he pulls through, and is conscious by tomorrow morning."

Jokingly, Gustav accepted his offer.

"Make it 350 and we have a deal buddy."

That night, the Ghost squad was shown to their new quarters, and since it was so early in the morning after a long party everyone was either asleep or too drunk to care about the strangers walking by their doors. After dropping off what little they had, they went down to the armory in the basement to drop off their equipment. Each individual operator got their own personal "cage" to store and upkeep their weapons, protective equipment, gadgets, and so on. They decided to just leave it in the cage until morning when they would clean and organize their gear. For now, all that the group was going to do was go to bed, and that's what they did. After everyone was in their bunk with the lights off, the only thing on all of their minds was Wraith.

Gustav Kateb woke up that morning expecting a report from the medical staff stating that Wraith had died of his injuries, blood loss, blood poisoning, physical strain, the list of ailments that were out of his control were astronomical. He had done everything he could have done to save this man, but he was certain he was going to pass. Instead, he woke up to see an empty hospital bed and a trail of fluids leading to the door. He immediately went to his office to check the security footage, which showed Wraith stirring awake miraculously, and then proceeded to rip out his IV, get up out of bed, and stumble out of the ICU. He immediately called Six on the phone to relay the situation to him.

"He just got up and left!"

"He just ripped it out without even flinching!"

"I don't know where he went!"

"Wait, you know where he is?"

"You're sitting with him?"

"He's where doing what!?"

"I'm on my way."

Harry had hung up on the doctor as he continued his talk with the sleep-deprived patient in front of him. Wraith had somehow found his way to the lounge and was currently nursing a Guinness that he somehow found and opened.

"I still don't understand how you got that drink, much less here to begin with?" Harry said, confused.

"I was thirsty, so I found a beer. What else is there to say?" Wraith answered in a hoarse voice.

"Do you know where you are Jason?"

" Since you're here sir, I assume Hereford base."

"What was the last thing you remember before you got here?"

"Well sir, the last thing would be the brick of C4 I jumped on before I turned into a human bottle rocket." After Wraith had finished talking, Gustav had walked in and sat down at their table.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry, this is our team medic, Doc," Harry said as he introduced Gustav to his new acquaintance.

"Jason O'Brien," Wraith said, holding out his hand for Doc to shake.

"Gustav Kateb," replied Doc, accepting his handshake.

"You are one resilient son of a bitch, I'll give you that." Said the doctor, impressed with what he saw in front of him. "I thought you would be dead by now, much less drinking a beer."

"What can I say, I've taken much worse and gotten out fine, I'm not leaving this Earth because of a measly IED that some backwoods militia made."

"Sorry, I forgot to ask, how much did Sparrow bet?"

Gustav was surprised at his question.

"Was he being serious?" He replied, not understanding his point.

"Heh heh. Make sure not to deal with him again, he'll drain your pockets before you can say 'Bet'," Jason said, remembering Sparrow's bullshit. "He always knows the outcome. He knows if he's going to win or lose, great in a firefight, not so great in a game of poker."

"He's also made a small fortune betting on the lives of his squadmates, but so far all of us have made it back in one piece, or at least most of us." Jason finished his sentence with a solemn tone.

Doc, confused as ever, shook the look off his face and had asked Jason to follow him.

"I would appreciate it if you came back to the medical bay with me, so we can do a final check-up to see what recovery you have left."

"Can I bring my beer?" Jason asked jokingly.

"Since you just got up after being almost torn in half, yes Jason, you can bring your beer."

As Gustav walked his patient back to the medbay, a large man with an even larger beard popped his head out of his quarters to see the commotion. As soon as he saw Jason's face, he gasped and quickly went back inside. This was the quarters for the Navy SEAL operators. The man in question, Craig, woke his fellow teammate Meghan up to tell her his findings.

"What is it Craig, why are you up so early?" Meghan groaned as she stretched and got out of bed.

"You remember that operation that I've been talking about recently? The one when I first met the Russians?" Craig asked.

"Yeah, after it all went to shit, and that bomb went off? Was a damn shame, too many civilian casualties."

"Well the soldier who by disobeying direct orders caused all that, I just saw his ass walk down the hall."

"What? Craig, what are you talking about?" Meghan was very skeptical about the whole situation.

"I've been tracking the man, through records, digital footprints, contractors, everything he's been doing since Moscow."

"And I found out that he's part of the Ghost team that just showed up last night. They were going to arrive a couple of days later, but they got in a scuffle, and we were the closest medical site, so they decided to check in early."

Meghan was surprised and worried about all of this. "If you've been tracking him this whole time, you can't have good intentions," She said. "What are you going to do?"

Several minutes went by before Craig answered.

"I.. I'm going to kill the bastard."

Meghan was speechless, horrified that one of her oldest friends could even think about doing something so horrible.

"H..how could you even think about doing something like that?"

"Meghan, you don't understand," Craig answered, his voice quivering. "This man caused the deaths of millions of just normal everyday citizens, he needs to pay." Without another word, Craig leaves the room and starts walking toward the medbay, a glint of silver in his pocket.

Doc had finished his exam, and Jason was cleared to leave in the morning. He was upright, sitting on the side of his bed, finishing his drink. Suddenly, he froze, feeling a presence behind him. Whoever they were stopped about ten feet from his bed.

"I knew it would catch up with me," Jason said as he sighed. "You a Russian then, came to teach me a lesson?"

Craig ignored him as he addressed his own presence.

"No, I'm just here to stab you in the fucking head." He said, clenching his teeth in rage.

"Oh an American, that's a first," said Jason as he hopped off his bed and got into his stance. "Let's fucking go then you seadog."

Craig was the first to make a move. He dashed at Jason with his full speed, trying to catch him off guard. Jason sidestepped and put a knee in the SEAL's gut. He went tumbling to the ground, not expecting this much coordination from an injured soldier. He quickly got back up, still underestimating his opponent. He made a couple precise stabs aimed at the man's chest, but Jason quickly dodged, and knocked the knife out of his hand, sending it clattering to the ground. Craig quickly recovered, but not fast enough to block the right hook heading straight for his jaw. He went down fast as Jason used his whole body to pin him to the ground. For now, he had control of the situation…

Doc was first alerted to the struggle when Jason hit the panic button under his bed, and as soon as he got the signal from it, he hauled ass over to the medbay with a security team to back him up. When they arrived they found the assailant pinned to the ground by Jason, holding his arms behind his back.

Gustav started to speak after he caught his breath.

"What the hell happened here?" He asked, dumbfounded at what he saw in front of him.

"This pansy-ass bitch just waltzed in here, tried to stab me from behind, and I decked his ass!" said Jason, cocking his head toward where the knife laid on the ground.

Doc leaned down and started talking to the pinned man, who was wearing jeans and a dark hoodie over his head.

"Sir, you need to comply, or you will be shot," he said. "You understand right?"

A gruff voice replied.

"Yes, I understand, Gustav."

Gustav was speechless that the man knew his name until he recognized that voice…

"Craig, is that you?" He asked, bewildered at what he just heard.

"Yes, yes it is."

"Jason, get off of him."

" On it sir," said Jason as he climbed off of Craig, but not before kicking him in the ribs. He groaned in pain, writing on the floor.

"Cuff him and take him to the brig," Doc ordered the security team, "I'm going to go talk to Harry about this. Come with me, Jason." Jason began to follow him as they walked to Harry's office.

"I leave you alone for 15 minutes, and you've already nearly beaten one of your new colleagues within an inch of his life." Said Harry, exasperated. "What happened?"

Jason opened his mouth to speak, but then Gustav held up his hand to silence him. He then handed Harry a small USB drive, which he then promptly plugged into his desktop, and watched the security footage. He was in shock that one of his oldest operators could even think about such a deed, much less carry it out, and he also couldn't not be impressed that even after being drugged up with painkillers, and alcohol, that Jason still managed to quickly defuse the situation. He then unplugged the drive and handed it back to the medic, who took it and slid it in his pocket.

Harry wanted to see the story from Jason's perspective first. "Jason," he asked, "what exactly do you think occurred?"

"Well sir, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, sipping my drink, then I felt a presence behind me like I was being watched. I turned around, saw a large, heavyset man with a beard in dark clothes and a good, brandishing a knife."

"So naturally, I got into a fighting stance, and let him make the first move. He was sloppy, making large swipes while he ran at me. I dodged and kneed him in the stomach, he went down, he got up, and then he started being more precise with his stabs, and I disarmed him, and before he could recover, I hooked him in the jaw."

As Jason was talking, Harry was fact-checking his statements with the downloaded security tape from the USB, and he was mostly right, reciting almost every detail correctly. Now, he had to figure out what to do with Craig.

"Jason," Harry asked, "Do you know Craig Jensen?"

"He was an old squadmate from back when I was in the SEALs, I thought he would have let it go, or at least understood by now," Jason mumbled.

Harry looked at him confused. As he was rewatching the security footage, he asked Jason another question.

"What happened between you two?" Jason sighed and leaned back in his seat, and took a deep breath before answering.

"It's a long story, you may or may not know, it might not even be declassified now that I think of it. I'm pretty sure Craig doesn't know all of it either, so why don't we head down to wherever he is, and I'll tell you both so I can set the record straight." Harry nodded his head in agreement as they made their way down to the brig.

Craig was already shackled to a table in an interrogation room when Jason and Harry arrived. They both took seats in front of him, and Jason started talking to Craig as Harry pulled out a voice recorder.

"I know you're pissed, and before you say anything, you can't," Jason said. "I'm only here to clear the air because you obviously don't know what really happened judging by your first reaction to seeing me here. So let's start from the beginning when that godforsaken country we call Russia decided to implode in on itself…"


End file.
